The Ministry of Education has placed a total of 1.4 million candidates who sat for their 2023 KCPE into Form One positions.
Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu said that all the eligible examination candidates have been placed in public secondary schools and all the over-age learners have been forwarded to the Directorate of Adult and Continuing Education for placement into Adult and Continuing Education institutions.
Speaking on Monday at Lenana School during the announcement of Form One Placement results, Machogu said that all candidates who scored 400 marks and above were placed in either National or Extra County schools of their choice. Similarly, all other candidates were placed in county or sub-county schools, according to the parameters set.
‘Learners with special needs were placed either in regular or Special Needs schools based on their disability categories, merit and choice,’ explained Machogu.
The CS said that a total of 42,927 students were place into National schools, 274,746 i
nto Extra County Schools, 288,201 into County Schools, 792,230 into Sub-county Schools while 2,225 were place into Special Needs Education (SNE).
‘As has been the case over the last few years, we will continue working with the Ministry of Interior and National Administration to facilitate the enrolment of every learner in secondary school to realise the 100 per cent transition,’ said Machogu.
He highlighted that the National Government Administration Officers will work with county and sub-county education officials to ensure that no child is locked out of secondary education.
On the School Fees for the 2024 School Calendar Year, Machogu said that the Government upholds its commitment to providing Free Day Secondary Education grants per learner, which include allocations for tuition and operational expenses.
‘The boarding fees charged in public secondary schools will remain unchanged in 2024. Schools will continue to receive funds based on accurate enrolment data submitted by principals through the Nationa
l Education Management Information System (NEMIS),’ said the CS.
On the School Uniform Requirements, Machogu said that the Ministry is committed to ensure that parents and guardians with learners joining Form One are not overburdened with unnecessary requirements that have extra financial implications.
‘To this end, parents and guardians will have the liberty to source school uniforms from any distributors of their choice so long as the outfits comply with the specifications of respective schools,’ he instructed.
Machogu added that Schools have been asked to provide the specifications of their uniform, which include design, quantity required, and colour or shade. This will empower parents to make choices that suit their budgetary constraints.
‘So far, a total of 37,574 Scholarships have been awarded to poor, vulnerable and marginalised learners across the Country. This year, again, the Ministry of Education through, the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation and the Equity Group Foundation, is awarding a total of 14, 4
26 Elimu Scholarships in all 47 Counties,’ said the CS.
He explained that the scholarships will be awarded to vulnerable and marginalised learners from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, who attained 280 marks and above in the 2023 KCPE Examination.
‘For affirmative action, candidates with special needs and disabilities who attained below 280 marks will be eligible. Refugee learners from camp-based schools, who attained 240 marks (girls) and 250 marks (boys) will also benefit from the Scholarship. This will bring the number of scholarships provided by the Government of Kenya to vulnerable and marginalised learners since 2020 to 52, 000,’ said Machogu.
He added that the Ministry has continued to apply affirmative action to cater for the needy and vulnerable children in identified slums and informal settlements in urban areas. This is in compliance with the Government’s policy of achieving parity in education.
‘Through affirmative action, we managed to place 130 learners to National a
nd 167 to Extra County schools. This comprised 150 girls and 147 boys. Besides the affirmative action on needy and vulnerable children, the placement also considered the Djibouti Declaration of 2017 on Regional Refugee Education and placed learners from primary schools located within the refugee camps,’ said the CS.
Source: Kenya News Agency